Valve structure for use on well casings and the like



May 8, 1945- MILLER ETAL v 2,375,432

VALVE STRUCTURE Fon uslE oN WELL CASINGS AND THE'LIKL Filed Nov. 9. 1942 2 Sheets-Sheetv 1 6 .5' /7 /6 .s 4. /7 4 6 /6 /5 A 25 J4.\ b l l /7 Milly s, 1945.

l. A. MILLER ETAL Filed Nov. 9, :1942

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K l l 4f C) A 4 Y f" /47 fm 5a 34 s 37 @a a .Z/d 32 /au Y Ja- WL I .,.F 2. v )W70/Ew Patented `May 8, 1945 VALVE STRUCTURE FQRUSE 0N WELL. i CASINGS AND THE. LIKE `Ira; A. Miller and Maarten MQVerheul, Houston, Tex. 1

ApplicationNovember 9, 1942, Serial lNo. 465,070 3 ciaims. (ol. zur- 2)- This' invention relates to valve structures and more particularly hasy referencev to a Valve con-` struction for closing said; casings, and of a type generally referred to as a blow out preventer.

Some' valve structures have been-developed for closing ia wellr casing about tubing or pipe extending dow-n into the casing .and others for closing the entire casing whenr no` pipe ortubing is. in place therein and' still others have been provided with parts adapted to close' about a pipe or tubing. and additionalv parts forcompl'eting the'` closure. of the. casingwhen no pipe ortubing. isV iny place therein. These latter structures, however,4V are not entirely 'satisfactory because` of the double seal' required between the main valves and their seat vandl between the auxiliary valves and the main valves. tive means for closing and opening the main valves are provided, no such'. means have been devised for'the auxiiiaryva'lves. The valveswliich have been provided: for closing.v the` entire casingv have, furthermore been such.. as to prohibit the presence of' any tape, Wire orthe like: extending into: the casing while the valve is closed.

n"l'he principal object-of this. invention-.is to provide a casing valve structure which; avoids the disadvantages of the prior art'` structure..

Another and more specic object, of this invention is. to provide a lstructure which is capable of closing off the entirer passagel throughA a. cas- 'A ingy yet which will be capable of completely closing.' and forming a seal about a thin tape, small might be broken off to permit a blow out.

Another object of this invention is t0 provide a casing valve structure having. valve means for closing the casing about a.` pipe. extending through the same, and valve means. Yfor completely closing the casing when the' pipe is removed, each valve means being positively controlled. r

A further object oi this invention isto provide a casing valve having a .housing with an opening in the top thereof, atube in said opening and extending down into saidi housing and having a valve seat "providedat `itslovver end, valve means in the casi-ng lfor engaging said seat to lclose the opening about 5a .pipe in said seat to close the openingA when the pipe. is. removed from the casing.

Still" another object of this invention is to..

provide a. casing valve structurev havingl valve meansv for closing the, casing about. a pipe. ex

tending 'through the same, and) valve. means for completely closing the casing when vtliepipeis removed, each valve. means being positively. con- 'rolled and adapted to engage a. common. seat.y

Furthermore,while posif tions described in the specification and shown in A still further object'of this invention is to pro.-

vid'e a valve structure for a wellc casing. which comprises a housing mounted on the'casing. and

having an opening.y in theA top thereof, a. tube in said,A openingA and extending down intoA said `housing and having avalve seat provided. at its lowappearmore fully hereinafter, the present invention is embodied. intheparts and combina..-

the drawings. f

. In the drawings:

i Figure 1 is a` vertical sectional View of` a. cas- Fig. 4 is -an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line 4 4 of Fig..1. I f Fig. 5 is a sectional. view similarto Fig.-3 illustrating a mod-iiication of the present ,invez-itionv and. taken. on line 5 5 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 6A is a: Vertical sectional View of the modied; form of val-ve shown in Fig. 5'. i l

As shown in the drawings the casing vvalve of Athefp-resent invention comprises a housingv I mounted on the upper end of thewellfcasing. 2:.

For this .purpose housing.. lis provided ,f Withi -a threaded boss 3 which receives the upper threaded. end oi the casing.v The top'of the housing l is provided4 with a threaded. opening: 4-1 iii-which place to avoid accidental? removal; as indicated by casing and other valve means for engaging the reiierence character 6.

At its lower end. tube k5 is termed. `to pmviriey n aseat IA for valves in ther housing. E-or thiszpurpose the end of the-tube is cutaway on its portion as shown inFigs. 1 and 4. y The upper end of tube is secured to a conduit 8.

Extending horizontally of the housing I on of packing material which is compressed about the shafts 9 and I0 by rams I3 to seal the shafts in saidl openings I2. Rams I3 are forced into the opening I2 by screws I4 as shown in Figf.

Shafts 9 andv I9 are interconnected for simultaneous rocking movement by means of meshing toothed segments I5 and I6 which arekeyed on the outer ends of said shafts. Power for a'ctuating the shafts may be transmitted thereto 'through the crank arm I 'I which may be integral with toothed segment I8.

,within the housing lv 'the shafts 9 and le carry rvalve gates I8 and I9 respectively which are keyed or otherwise fixed to said shafts. v As shown in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings, the gates I8 and I9-are of .general semi-circular conguration and are provided with cut-out portions 28 and 2| which register with each other and cooperate to .provide an opening between the gates when* closed for the passage of a tape or cable 22 which is suspended down into the casing 2.

l Each of the gates I8 and I9 has formed on its upper surface a semi-circular cup-shaped recess in which semi-circular discs or rings ,of packing to be lclosed about the cable will provide a leak- 1 proof seal about said cable.

material 23 are placed. Positioned on the upv per surface of the packing material 23 areV semicirculardiscs or rings 24 of metal or other rigid material which are held in place by screws 25 which pass loosely through the same. The screws 25, however, are threaded into recesses in the upper lsurfaces of the gates-I8 and I9. This k construction permits the plates 24 which actas means for compressing the packing 23 to move relatively to the gates per se.

When the gates I8 andi I9 constructed as above Vdescribed and `illustrated in Fig. l are moved 'into engagement with the seat formed in the lower end of tube 5, the plates 24 engage said seat and further movement of the gates due to applied force on the shafts 9 and I9 or lto pressure from the casing 2 will force the gates toward the seat on the lower end of tube 5. This action will cause the plates 24 to lbe displaced toward the respective gates I8 and I9 and will serve to compress the packing 23 and cause the same to expand in a transverse direction. Due to the transverse expansion of the packing 23, it will serve` to provide a closer seal against the lower end of the seat around the outside edges y of the discs or rings. The greater the pressure the more will be the tendency for these packgates and the4 interior of the tube 5..

connection the tube 5 is provided with an aperture 26 .into which is adapted to vbe inserted the -If when it is desired toopen the valve gates I8 and I9 there is a considerable pressure exerted on the under surface thereof, it will be necessary to equalize this pressure at least in part on both sides of the valve gates before they can be opened.

For this purpose the present invention provides a novel by-pass to providev communication between the interior of the housing l for the valve In this pointed or otherwise shaped end of a valve stem 21. cause the valve body formed on the end thereof to seat and unseat in the aperture 25, said stem 2l is-threaded as indicated by reference character 28 and is mounted in a threaded bore formed in the wall of the housing I. The portion of the 'threaded bore adjacent the outer surface .ofthe wall of the'housing l'is enlarged to receive packing material 29 which is compressed by a threaded plunger 3D surrounding the stem 21 and threadedly mounted in the outer threaded portion of the bore in the wall of housing I. The outer end yof the stem 2l' carries an operating knob 3| byy means of which the stem may berotated to effect seating and unseating of theinner end thereof relative to the bore 2I.l

The above described loypass, while being effective to ,equalize the pressure on .both sides of the valve gates, nevertheless presents only a very small portion on the exterior of the housing andconsequently 4is not subject to the disadvantages .of a construction in which a bypass tube connects the housing I with the tube 5 on the exterior thereof. The compact arrangement v.of ,the present invention is thereing members to be forced into sealing engagement with each other vand with the lower end of the seat.

It will be noted that in addition to the cut-f out portions 28 and 2| in the gates I8' and I9 that the plates 24 mounted on said gates are similarly cut out to provide Afor the passage of the cableV or tape-22 through .the same. The packing material 23, however,A is not so cut out because when the gates are closed about the cable 22 the packing material will be compressed about the cable and while permitting the gates Vfore not liable to be accidently broken so yas to permit the free ilow `of uid under pressure from the housing I. The most that could happen tothe construction herein described is that the knob v3! could bebroken from the stem 2l.

However, this would not open the aperture k'26 f to permit the free flow of uid under pressure n through the same.

In Figs. 5 and 6 rof the drawings there is shown a form of the present invention in which vtwo' sets of gates are mounted in the housing la, One set of gates Ilia. and 19a isidentical to those illustrated in Figs. 1,-3 of 'the drawings and these gates are adapted yto beseated .on the lower end ofthe tube 5a. when the other set of gates are open and when nothing more than a cable or tape passes down through the casing.

However, when it is desired to close the lower 'Y end of the tube 5a`while a drill pipe 32 or other conduit of large diameter is passing therethrough, the gates I 8a and ISa are opened and ythe second set of gates which are constructed rvto close about the conduit 32 are seated against the lower end of the tube 5a.

. This second pair of gates 33 and 34 are con- I struoted siimlarly to gates I ,8 and I9 of Figs. l-3 and differ therefrom lprimarily in the size and shape of Ythe recesses 35 and 35 formed in the meeting edges of said gates. These recesses .are large enough. to enable the gates to close in one `wall of 'the housing Ia and its other enofl 1 In order to displace the valve stem 21 to' projecting through an opening in the opposite Wall of the housing. The outer portions of these openings areenlarged for the reception of packing material 40 to seal the shafts in theA openings. Plungers 4I actuated by screws 42 are provided to compress the packing material.

Shafts 31 and 38 are connected by toothed segments 43 and 44 respectively, the latter .segment having an actuating arm 45 extending therefrom.

On the upper surfaces of eachof gates 33 and 34 there is formed a cup-shaped recess of semicircular configuration and in which are semicircular discs or rings of packing material 4B. Plates 4l of metal or other rigid material similar to the plates 24` are positioned on `-top of the packing discs and slidably mounted on sc rews 48 which are threaded into sockets in the upper surfaces of the gates. This construction'enables the packing to be compressedv and laterally expanded when the gates are seated in; the manner described in connection with l cooperate with the seat, packing in said packing receiving vrecesses and substantially confined thereby against flow in a radially outward direction, and packing compressing plates mounted on said packing for engagingthe seat and causing the packing to flow axially into sealing en.

gagement with said iiat end face 4portion to gates I8 and I9 of Figs. 1-3. In the case of gates 33 and 34, however,l the packing conforms toV the recesses 35 and 36 projecting beyond the same only sucilently to,v effectively seal the gates about the pipe 32 when the gates are closed. i

The by-pass illustrated in Fig, 4 is of course applied to the structure of Figs. 5 and 6.

In constructing the device as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 with two positively and independently operated pairs of gates both of which engage and seal against the same removable and replaceable seat, eilective control of the flow from the casing 2 is obtained whether a pipe or conduit is extending down into the same or whether it is vacant or merely has a thin tape or cable extending down into the same. The

'structure is compact, eflicient and thev parts subject to wear can be readily and easily replaced.

Having described our invention, We claim:

l. A casing valve -comprising a housing for mountingv on a well casing, said housinghavingan opening in its top aligned with `the casing,

a pair of cooperating gates mounted on pivotedA shafts extending horizontally of the housing, a

gate seat surrounding the opening in the top of the housing, said seat including a rflatend face portion, said gates having packed receiving recesses in the .surfaces thereof which are to provide a seal between the gates and the seat.

2. A. casing valve comprising a housing for mounting on a well casing, said housing having an opening in its top aligned with the casing, a pair of cooperating gates mounted on pivoted shafts extendingI horizontally of the housing, a gate seat including a flat end face portionsurrounding the opening inthe top of the housing, V

said "gates being of a size such that portions of. their adjacent edges meet When the gates are closed against said seat, said gates having small recesses in their meeting edges to provide Aa small opening therethrough when 'closed and packing receiving recesses in the surfaces thereof which are to cooperate with said seat, packing in said packing receiving recesses and substantially confined thereby against flow in a radially outward directiony and packing compressing plates mounted on said packing for engaging the seat and causing the packing to owaxially into sealing engagement with said flat end face portion to provide a seal between the gates'and the 3o seat.

3. A casing Valve comprising a housing 'fora mounting on a well casing, said housing having an opening inits 'top aligned with the casing, a pair of cooperating gates mounted on shafts extending horizontally. of the housing, a gate seatsurrounding the opening in the top of theA housing. packings of a nature adapted to iiow under pressure mounted on each of said' gates, means on said gates confining 'said packing against flow in anydirection other than toward said seat and toward each other when the gates are in lclosed position, andr packing compressing plates mounted on said packings respectively and positioned to engage portions of said seat as said gatesare closed so thatforces tending to urge said gates against said seat will cause compression of said packings and oW thereof toward said seat to provide a seal between the gates and the seat. '1

IRAA.MILLER. MAARTEN M. VERHEUL; 

